Shruti Shukla at the European Commission Event: Advancing Gender Equality and Intersectionality Research
September 2025
On September 29-30, Shruti Shukla participated in the two-day Cluster Event on Research on Gender Equality and Intersectionality: Networking for Strengthened Societal and Policy Impact, held at the European Commission in Brussels.
The event convened 30 projects funded through various schemes, alongside national representatives, policy and project officers, and civil society organizations. This diverse gathering offered a wide range of perspectives to advance the gender equality and intersectionality agenda, with the collective aim of contributing insights crucial for shaping the future of EU policies.
As part of the programme, Shruti shared reflections from her research journey on the ECOVI project, presenting:
Her experiences and learnings as a researcher working on gender equality.
Recommendations on how EU and other international funding programmes could become more inclusive.
Insights into ethics and participant engagement drawn from the ECOVI project.
The ECOVI project (Disentangling and Preventing Economic Violence against Women in India) is an ERC-funded initiative that investigates and addresses the structural and societal mechanisms behind economic violence faced by women.
Baseline Data Collection Successfully Completed in Three Study Sites
September 2025
The ECOVI project has successfully completed the baseline data collection in all three study states: Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and Rajasthan.
As part of this large-scale data collection effort, three teams of male and female enumerators conducted interviews with study participants in each of the three states. In Rajasthan, the data collection was overseen by field manager Hasan Mehdi, in Maharashtra by Kamta Nath and in Andhra Pradesh by Maheshwara G.B..
In total, 2,265 households were surveyed across 150 clusters. In each household, both, the wife and the husband were interviewed. All data were collected on mobile tablets and uploaded at the end of each day to a password-protected server. The dataset has since been cleaned and anonymized and is currently with the trial statistician - Siuli Mukhopadhyay, Professor in the Department of Mathematics at IIT Bombay for random allocation of the clusters to the treatment or control group of the CT.
Enumerators in Andhra Pradesh
Photo Credit : Maheshwara G.B.
ECOVI team presents intervention development at the European Conference on Domestic Violence in Barcelona
September 2025
At this year’s European Conference on Domestic Violence (ECDV) in Barcelona, Ines Böhret, Anushree Dirangane, and Shruti Shukla held a presentation on “Designing a Couple-Based Intervention to Address Economic Violence: A Gender-Transformative Approach.”
In their presentation, they discussed the design of a culturally sensitive, couples-based intervention in India, aimed at fostering joint reflection, equitable financial decision-making, trust, and healthier partnerships. The development process followed three key stages:
(1) focus group discussions to understand the local context and specific forms of economic violence, complemented by a synthesis of global evidence on interventions, (2) drafting and refining the intervention curriculum through a review of existing programs and a participatory stakeholder workshop, and (3) piloting and adapting the curriculum based on feedback from participants and trainers.
Preliminary findings from stakeholder engagement and pilot testing suggest that a curriculum combining financial skills with a gender-transformative approach holds strong potential to prevent and address the root causes of economic violence. However, challenges remain, particularly in ensuring male engagement and addressing influences from the broader domestic sphere, such as parents-in-law.
This research contributes to the growing body of evidence on preventing violence against women and provides a framework for developing community-informed, evidence-based interventions.
The conference took place from 3. - 5. September 2025 in Barcelona. If you want to learn more about the conference and other presentations, please visit the website of the conference.
Training of Enumerators for Baseline Data Collection Successfully Completed
(August 2025)
The ECOVI project has successfully completed the training of the male and female enumerator teams in all three study states: Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and Rajasthan.
The training sessions were planned and overseen by Anushree Dirangane (PhD student at TUM), Rucha Vasumati Satish (Research Manager at Vayam), Ines Böhret (PhD student at TUM), and Shraddha Upadhyay (Research Manager at Sambodhi). We are also grateful for the substantial support and dedicated work by our master trainers Kris Chudawala and Aniket Watgule in Maharashtra, Karishma Shaik and G B Maheshwara in Andhra Pradesh, and Ashwani Kumar Tiwari and Akanksha Mishra in Rajasthan. Upon completion of the training, all enumerators conducted a day of pilot surveys with a consecutive debriefing day. The full-scale baseline data collection has now been launched in all three states, aiming for completion of 2250 household interviews with husbands and wives across 150 community clusters.
Enumerator team and trainers in Andhra Pradesh
Picture Credit: Rucha Vasumati Satish
Navigating the baseline survey on the project tablet
Picture Credit: Rucha Vasumati Satish
PhD student Anushree Dirangane delivering a training component in Maharashtra
Picture Credit: Rucha Vasumati Satish
Pilot of ECOVI Intervention Curriculum Successfully Completed Across All Three Study States
(June 2025)
The ECOVI project has successfully completed the pilot implementation of the intervention curriculum in all three study sites: Jaipur (Rajasthan), Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), and Pune (Maharashtra), led and overseen by Rucha Vasumati Satish. The curriculum was piloted with couples across diverse caste, occupational, and socio-economic backgrounds to assess its suitability and resonance within each local context.
Women during a financial literacy-focused activity in the pilot intervention in Andhra Pradesh
Picture Credit: Rucha Vasumati Satish
Group of men discussing masculinity norms in the pilot intervention in Rajasthan
Picture Credit: Rucha Vasumati Satish
The pilot was facilitated by the following Gender trainers: Abha Jeurkar & Pravin Thote (Maharashtra), Nitesh Vyas & Rama Sharma (Rajasthan), and Satyaveni Salipalli & Devaprasad Ithi (Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh).
Across all sites, the programme was well received by participants. They expressed that the curriculum brought fresh and relevant content to their communities and was distinct from existing programmes they had encountered. The financial literacy modules were described as particularly useful and engaging. Participants reported improved understanding of key financial concepts, with many women gaining new insight into their household finances and husbands’ earnings. Activities fostered joint reflection on spending and saving practices and encouraged shared financial decision-making within couples.
The gender-transformative components also led to meaningful conversations around care work, communication, and gender norms. While some initial discomfort was observed—particularly among male participants during exercises that highlighted unequal household labour—facilitators effectively guided discussions to support critical reflection. Notably, exercises on active listening were described as impactful by both men and women, contributing to improved communication dynamics within households. Women, in particular, shared that their husbands rarely listened with such attentiveness. Specifically, they explained that through the active listening exercises, their husbands began including them more in financial discussions. This served as a moment of increased self-esteem – recognising their right and their capacity to participate meaningfully in decisions affecting their lives and families.
Overall, there were encouraging signs of potential programme impact, particularly evident during the final session, where participants reflected on their key learnings and experiences from the intervention. Notably, some male participants who had previously restricted their wives from working outside the home began to reconsider these limitations and expressed a willingness to change.
The feedback received from both participants and facilitators informed a range of possible curriculum refinements, aimed at improving its cultural appropriateness, literacy accessibility, and session flow.
These promising outcomes mark an important step toward the ECOVI project's broader implementation, scheduled to begin in randomly selected 50% of the 150 study clusters in November 2025.
Female participant filling out a worksheet on interest rates and loan schemes in the pilot intervention in Rajasthan
Picture Credit: Rucha Vasumati Satish
Husband and wife filling out a monthly expenses sheet together during the pilot intervention in Maharashtra
Picture Credit: Rucha Vasumati Satish
Participants and gender trainers after successful completion of the pilot intervention in Maharashtra
Picture Credit: Rucha Vasumati Satish
Facilitation Workshop in Preparation for the ECOVI Pilot
(April 2025)
Following the stakeholder workshop in Delhi, Anushree Dirangane, Ines Böhret, and Rucha Vasumati Satish continued their work on the ECOVI project with an intensive online training. In collaboration with experienced trainers from Maharashtra and Rajasthan, a three-day exchange took place in preparation for the upcoming pilot phase.
Picture Credit: Rucha Vasumati Satish
Picture Credit: Ines Böhret
During the training, the team and trainers reviewed each session of the ECOVI curriculum, which integrates financial literacy and gender transformation to prevent economic violence within households. The discussions focused on cultural and contextual factors that would shape the curriculum’s delivery. Trainers shared valuable insights on how local norms, relationship dynamics, and communication styles could influence participant engagement, offering suggestions for exercises and facilitation strategies to increase the curriculum’s relevance and impact.
The training also provided an opportunity to dive deeper into essential themes such as trauma-informed facilitation, inclusive financial education, and gender-transformative approaches. The extensive experience of the trainers reaffirmed the importance of collaboration and local expertise in ensuring the program’s acceptance in diverse contexts and its relevance for participants.
With the training now complete, the team is preparing to launch the pilot phase, a key step in bringing the ECOVI curriculum into real-world settings.
(January 2025)
Shruti Shukla, Anuschree Diranganee, Ines Böhret, and Rucha Vasumati Satish recently travelled to Delhi, India, where they facilitated a stakeholder workshop for the ECOVI project in collaboration with our partner organization, Sambodhi. Over the course of three days, they brought together 10 experts in the fields of violence against women, economic empowerment, and gender transformation, as well as two couples from the local area, to discuss the planned intervention.
Picture Credit: Ines Böhret
Picture Credit: Ines Böhret
The workshop provided an invaluable platform for engaging with key stakeholders and receiving feedback on the couples-based curriculum we intend to test across three states in India in a randomized controlled trial. This curriculum is designed to prevent economic violence against women by fostering healthier financial and relational dynamics in households. It was carefully reviewed and refined with inputs from the experts and participants, ensuring it was both practical and impactful. We are deeply grateful for all the valuable contributions from our stakeholders, and we look forward to continuing our collaboration as we move forward with this important work.
In addition to the workshop, the team had the opportunity to connect with members of the Sambodhi team. Together, we reviewed the next steps for the project, including the pilot phase, baseline assessments, and intervention strategies. The team is now focused on revising the curriculum, with plans to begin the pilot in the coming months. This workshop marked a significant milestone in the ECOVI project, and we are excited to continue our work towards combating economic violence and promoting gender transformation.
Picture Credit: Ines Böhret